second time as farce

obstructing justice brought Dick Nixon down
but Trump's too arrogant to pay due heed
the world's aghast to watch this arrant clown
repeating history to slake his greed
Jim Comey lived to prosecute the mob
investigating Putin's no new thing
but Trump's outraged he'd dare to do his job
he thinks himself above the law, a king
McConnell guards his back; he's holding fast
presuming Orrin Hatch will keep his seat
but no one wed to Donald's sure to last
the GOP could join him in defeat
our Ship of State could shatter on these rocks
if no one fills the shoes of Archie Cox

Obstruction

Obstructing Justice laid Dick Nixon low
but Donald Trump's too arrogant to learn
a fool to fire the few who'd tell him "no"
he'll crash his party's fortunes in his turn
Trump's avarice is not James Comey's flaw
he lived for prosecutions of the mob
religiously devoted to the Law
unswerving in the conduct of his job
no common ground on which these two might meet
if Donald deigned to hear another's voice
as Watergate seems slated to repeat
these two are set to crash, without a choice
McConnell means to block this lawsuit's path
but may yet fold before Jim Comey's wrath

top angler

Unflapping, as if painted on the sky,
her pinions balanced on the April breeze
no meal escapes her glitt'ring yellow eye
who perches on the air, as if in trees.
The osprey stoops, our breaths and heartbeats pause
she exits dreamtime, very much awake.
A trout now thrashes dumbly in her claws
that thought itself the big fish in this lake.
The timeless drama, predator and prey
the plumpest sacrifice the waters give
will feed her nestlings for another day
unless fish die, their predators can't live.
To mourn this death too much would be absurd;
my sympathy's entirely with the bird.

catharsis

unflapping, crucified against the sky
her pinions balanced on the April breeze
no fleeting ripple can escape her eye
who perches on the air, as if in trees
the osprey stoops, our breaths and heartbeats pause
she exits dreamtime, very much awake
a trout now thrashes dumbly in her claws
that thought itself the big fish in this lake
the timeless drama, predator and prey
the plumpest sacrifice the waters give
will feed her nestlings for another day
unless fish die, their predators can't live
to mourn this death too much would be absurd
my sympathy's entirely with the bird

score!

unflapping, crucified against the sky
her pinions balanced on the April breeze
no quarry can escape her  scanning eyes
who perches on the air, as if in trees
the osprey stoops, our breaths and heartbeats pause
she exits dreamtime, very much awake
a trout now thrashes dumbly in her claws
that thought itself the big fish in this lake
the timeless drama, predator and prey
the plumpest sacrifice the waters give
will feed her nestlings for another day
unless fish die, what piscivores could live
to mourn this death too much would be absurd
my sympathy's entirely with the bird

giant mystery

Cassini showed us Saturn's atmosphere
convecting like to soar there should be fun
but only nine percent of what shines here
impinges there, so distant from the sun
the latent heat ammonia gas conceals
to form a cloud, and rain back towards the core
is barely half what water vapor feels
but there, when driven less, the storms rage more
ongoing gravitational collapse
could keep gas giants warmer than their peers
but I'd expect that's done in weeks, perhaps
and should be spent before four billion years.
The second-biggest planet in night's sky
has raging tempests. No one can say why

the sky's the limit

for want of rotors, wings reciprocate
evolving out of parts already known.
The menu's fixed from which to innovate
'though some use exoskeleta, some bone.
The pterosaurs are gone, they've quit the skies.
The niche awaits a predator that soars.
For now, it's only gnats and dragonflies
exploiting lift in ridge, and wave, and cores.
The eagle spreads her pinions to the breeze
and gives herself to rising air's embrace.
Convection holds the liberating keys
for those not built to flap, who love the chase.
The latest innovators on the wing,
chiroptera squeeze in where birds are king.